OU Women's BB: Where are they after a 5-0 start and now at 6-5 ?

[OUBeliever56A]

Honestly I forgot about yesterday's OU Women's BB game at Noon against Southern. I will also admit that I thought the win against Southern was going to be a layup for a victory by Coach Baraczyk's Sooners. But, I along with most of you it seems, the loss is fairly difficult to understand. Southern was 1-9 coming into the game. OU was 6-4 but had lost 4 of their last 5 games. The loss was probably even more with the very poor finish of the game yesterday by the Sooners. More on that in a paragraph or two.

I remember when the season looked promising when the Sooners started the season with a 5-0 record with wins over Ole Miss and Virginia and scoring at least 80 points a game in their first five games. In their last 6 games that have not scored more than 76 points in their 5 losses and averaged only 66.8 pts per game in the 5 losses. More disturbing to me is that the Sooners have allowed 72.3 pts game on defense in the last 6 games.

I have come to the conclusion that the Sooners have a real problem playing defense. The problem is two-fold in my mind. They really do not have an adequate defender inside the paint. If they try to play strong defense inside they get into foul trouble often. The inside depth is hit and miss off the bench. They also have problems guarding outside people on dribble penetration. The Sooners end up repeatedly trailing the player dribbling towards the bucket. At the best they are beside the player, never in front of the player with the ball. Probably the best thing they do on defense is rebound.

On offense, when the three's do not fall, the Sooners struggle to score consistently. The last two season under Coach Baranczyk there was always Madi Williams or Ana Llanusa to take the shot with the shot approaching zero. This year no one has stepped up at all to fill that role. Maybe the bigger problem is that the Sooners sometimes settle to shoot a three with over 15 seconds left on the shot clock. Impatience is an issue I think. I am no longer sure that this team is a team of good shooters. From the free throw line they are now under 70% for the season. That is not a sign of a team of good shooters, maybe not even average shooters. Only two players shoot over 40% from the field and from beyond the arc. Those two are Joens and Verhulst. Vann is leading the Sooners in scoring because she shoots 50% more shots than any other player. Joens is probably getting the most out of her talent for the Sooners.

I realized the game was being played yesterday when I saw a post her about the game. I was then able to get to ESPN+ to watch the game. I tuned in with about 3 minutes left in the game with OU leading 66-62. Before I knew it the score was 68-68 as Southern scored two 3-point plays, one the old-fashioned way and one one from downtown. As Reyna Scott made 2 of 4 free throws the score was tied for the last time at 70-70. As Southern scored the final 9 points, the Sooners had 4 turnovers and a missed three and a missed 2-point attempt. I must say that it was very ugly. During those minutes Vann was on the bench after what was described as a hard slap in the face. I did not see the play. But she had her warmup on, not looking like she was ready to play. But even with Vann not in the game, OU should have not played as poorly as they did down the stretch. Southern outscored theSsooenrs 17-3 down the stretch to win the game. Southern outscored the Sooners in the 4thQ 28-12 to win by 9 points.

The Sooners had 27 turnovers against Souther, a 1-9 team. Thirteen of the turnovers were by Verhulst and Williams added together. They are now averaging 20 turnovers a game. Twenty, that is at least 18 points game they lose if they shoot just under 50% from the field, maybe more if some are three's. The defense is not good enough to make up for that. Not right now anyway.

Here is the Sooner staff wrtiers article about yesterday's loss.

https://soonersports.com/news/2023/12/2 ... s-southern

Where are the Sooners now at 6-5 and a week before they open Big 12 Conference play? An honest might be, lost? Another one could be, rebuilding? It is going to be very tough for an undersized, poor defensive team to compete in the Big 12 this season. They Sooners do not have the speed on offense that they have had. Llanusa and Williams gave OU an advantage. They no longer have that advantage as only Keys and Tot run the floor and handle the ball well. Scott could but she forces too many long tough passes. The Sooners do not have a scorer to rely on at all. Vann is probably the most reliable scorer but she takes many shots to do so. Joens would be next but she is a catch and shoot player and needs a passer and a screen to get open often.

I think that the Sooners need to develop every young player they can at this point. They have everyone back for next season except Tucker I believe. Next season thy get Liz Scott back inside and Vann's younger sister at 5'9" as a guard and a 6'1" forward in Caya Smith both from the state of Oklahoma. There has to be some honest development of an inside player to help Liz Scott next season and beyond. One or two of Culliton, Johnson and Allen probably need lots of playing time to see which one or two can play at this level inside against the nigs they wil face in the SEC. It that is delayed, the results down the line will be slowed in my mind. This will not help this year however. The Sooners need to find a way for Williams to help this team. The current scheme does not help her much. She is too small to play inside well and does not shoot well from outside. Maybe a high-low post scheme would help her and Vann both to be better. it might help the Culliton-Johnson-Allen trio as well. But that is not THE Baranczyk offense. But I am not sure this team has the payers this year for the Branczyk's scheme.

I think the Big 12 play will be very tough for the Sooners. Coach Baranczyk seemed overwhelmed and more than disappointed yesterday after the game. She was looking for words that were not there I thought. The first six Big 12 games are against teams that are 59-12 as of today. A good start might be 2-4 in Big 12 play. It is truly a rebuilding season at this point. Whether the team can decide to approach the season as such, I doubt. It is not in the mindset of many coaches to do so. If I was to be asked an over-under on 12 wins for the Sooner by the end of the season, meaning 6 wins in the Big 12. I would choose under. But I would hope I was wrong.

Good luck to the Sooners going forward in the Big 12. I will be there watching unless I am at Softball.

Boomer Sooner!

[OUBeliever56A]

Here is a further review of each player for the Sooners. (Just my opinion.)

Tot - She is a solid guard that can move the ball upcourt but against bigger guards in the Big 12 (many of them) I doubt she scores as much as the person she is guarding for a net negative. I think she is probably better off the bench than starting simply due to matchups.

Keys - After a solid start as a Sooner she seems to have regressed. Lately I have been disappointed about her defense. I thought she could be a good defender. She also looked tired the last couple of games. I might move her to the point and keep her as a starter for now. At times, Keys can still move over and play the shooting guard spot with Tot at point.

Verhulst - I still do not know what type of player she is. She is not a 6'1" that can play inside on offense or defense. At least for 30 minutes a game. Maybe for 5 minutes a game but not long term at all. That leaves the outside on the wing for a place for her to play. She has not shown the ability to really score due to the lack of shots at times. Maybe she should try to score and pass less. Got now, she starts but she needs to score.

Williams - She runs the floor pretty well, but she should not have the ball on the move. She is not a 3-point shooter. She needs to be around the free shot line and maybe offside on the low post. She rebounds pretty well when she has position. With position she can score some from 8-10 feet. She just needs to learn the game at this level.

Vann - The best 6th player in the Big 12 probably. But not a starter on a good team. She is a tweener, that is why it is hard for her to start. She can guard a '4" but not a '5'. Sometimes she can guard a '3'. She is another player that really is not a scorer in the post. Due to her ability to move, she gets by, but she is not a back to the bucket player. She belongs at the elbow of the free shot line and outside to stretch a defense.

So, to me three starters are Keys at point, Williams at maybe a 4 and Verhulst at a 3. Tot subs for Keys and Vann subs for Williams.

Scott - I do think Scott can score some if she wanted to or the offense had her closer to the bucket. She is not a 3-point shooter though. I think I would start her a the shooting guard spot and tell her to think "score". She is also big enough to guard the big guards in the Big 12. I also think she would be an effective passer into the lane from the wing. I would be interested in how she plays as a shooter.

I do not know which one, but one of Culliton, Johnson and Allen should be moved to the Center position let them play. It would be a move to see if they can play. Right now, I think that each have different strengths. Maybe their strengths can be matched with the other four on the floor. I think I would start Johnson and Allen would be #2, Culliton would play when foul trouble occurs and it will. I would try to only have one in the game at a time. All three would play off the ball down low and wither flash to the ball across the lane or post up on the block when the ball is reversed around the perimeter. Their first job is to rebound and play defense.

Culliton - She can rebound and play some defense against a big post player. But she would only score against after an offensive rebound or a very good pass down low.

Johnson - She is the best defender against a mobile big post player and she can block some shots. She runs the floor well and surprisingly scores on the move at times. She is not really a post up player though. She is a 8-10 foot range shooter but has to have room to shoot.

Allen - I wish she was 10-15 pounds heavier, but she used her legs well against big players. She does grab rebounds in position and can pass the ball out. Allen is the only one of the three that has a game down low and can score if given the ball.

Joens - Is a player that is better than her skills. She can shoot from long range also. She hustles heer way to rebounds and steals. But her defense is just barely average even though she works at it. She would sub for Verhulst and Scott. Because she can shoot, she would play often.

That leaves Tucker and Cooper to address. Tucker is a good defender but only scores by accident. She could play against a good outside scorer and set a lot of picks on offense and try to roll the bucket for layups. Cooper has been a Sooner for two years now and maybe played in 3 games. Who knows if she can play or not? I would find a few minutes a game for her at point an maybe shooting guard.

But the most important thing I might do is consistently have 3 starters in the game at all times. The three bigs, for now, are all starters. So them and at least two others of Keys, Scott, Verhulst and Williams. If you can call Vann a 4th starter, then at least 4 starters would be on the court.

I still think Coach Baranczyk is a good coach and will figure things out at this level. But the Sooners really need big players and top line shooters at some point. If she can recruit, we will see.

Boomer Sooner!